FBI agent says Nichols' suspected McVeigh in bombing

Latest developments:

• Nichols 'didn't want another Waco'
• 'I've got something in the works'
• Witness says he sold getaway car

November 20, 1997
Web posted at: 10:53 p.m. EST (0353 GMT)

DENVER (CNN) -- Terry Nichols said he suspected Timothy McVeigh was involved in the Oklahoma City bombing and that he spread ammonium nitrate fertilizer on his lawn because he was afraid that if it was found at his house it would make him "look guilty to a jury," an FBI agent testified Thursday.

In a nine-hour interview two days after the blast, Nichols denied involvement in the bombing but admitted scattering the fertilizer two days later out of fear, FBI Agent Stephen Smith told jurors.

"In my eyes, I did not do anything wrong, but I can see how lawyers can turn things around," Nichols told him, Smith said.

Nichols turned himself that same day, telling police "he didn't want another Waco."

Smith was one of the agents who interviewed Nichols in the basement of the police station near Nichols' Herington, Kansas, home, and said Nichols wanted to know why his name was mentioned on the radio in connection with the bombing. Smith told Nichols he didn't know, but that the FBI had some questions for him.

The 42-year-old Nichols is charged with 11 counts of murder and conspiracy in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and wounded hundreds of others.

Smith said Nichols told the FBI he sold military-type weapons at gun shows, but didn't mention that he also sold aluminum nitrate -- the fertilizer that was the primary ingredient in the bomb -- until eight hours after the interview began.

'I've got something in the works'

According to Smith, Nichols told the FBI that he had picked up Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City three days before the bombing.

Nichols said he'd gone to pick up a TV from McVeigh, and gave him a ride back to Kansas because his car had broken down, Smith said.

Nichols said McVeigh told him to expect "something big in the future."

Nichols said, "What are you going to do, rob a bank?"

"No," McVeigh said, "but I've got something in the works."

McVeigh has already been convicted of the bombing, and has been sentenced to death.

Two testify about Ryder truck

Earlier in the day, two witnesses testified that they saw a Ryder truck and a dark pickup parked at Geary Lake State Park -- about 20 miles from Nichols' home on April 18, 1995 -- the day before the bombing.

Neither of the witnesses -- both of them men -- saw anyone around the two trucks, and neither identified the pickup as Nichols' 1984 dark blue GMC truck.

Prosecutors contend that Nichols and McVeigh met at the park and mixed racing fuel, 4,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and blasting caps, packing the mixture into 55 gallon blue-and-white plastic barrels inside the Ryder truck.

Nichols answered all their questions, Smith said, except those about phrases in a letter for McVeigh that he had left with his ex-wife, Lana Padilla, when he traveled to the Philippines in November 1994.

In the letter, Nichols wrote, "you're on your own, go for it," and instructed Mrs. Padilla to get the letter to McVeigh if he failed to return from his trip by late January 1995. He did return, but Mrs. Padilla had already opened the letter.

When asked about the phrases, Nichols "sat there and looked at us for approximately a minute and did not respond to the questions," Smith said.

Witness says he sold getaway car

Jurors also heard videotaped testimony Thursday from a store manager who sold McVeigh a 1977 Mercury Marquis on April 14 in Junction City, five days before the bombing.

Thomas Manning said McVeigh brought a blue Pontiac to his repair shop, but when told it would cost $500 to fix, McVeigh said he couldn't afford it. Instead, he agreed to buy the Mercury in exchange for $300 and the Pontiac.

Manning testified that McVeigh left the store for about 10 minutes that morning. The government claims that McVeigh made two phone calls during the 10-minute absence, one to rent the Ryder truck and another to Nichols' home.

McVeigh was driving the Mercury when he was stopped 90 minutes after the bombing for not having a license plate on the car.

T H E   N I C H O L S   T R I A L  /   T H E   M c V E I G H   T R I A L
T H E   B O M B I N G  /   C N N   S T O R I E S   /   L I N K S

---

 

---

Sound off on our message boards You said it...

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.